Naturals how do you manage your hair when left out??

[k3mii]

Im new to this forum after a long time lurking
i have been natural for about 1 yr and a half. but have only been wearing my hair in braid extentions.
i want to start wearing my hair out in an afro .. or even in an afro puff

but im so clueless to the whole thing

1) do i plait my hair before sleeping at night.. then unplait it in the morning?
2) am i meant to condition wash it everday if left out?
3) if i do wash it most days will this not make my hair break off due to detangling?
4)lastly even if your hair is tangled at the end of the day .. do you just leave it until u condition?

the last time i wore my hair out it just became a tangled mess and i ended up dry combing it all the time as i was not used to the knots

sorry for going on and on

 

[DreadlockedLady0171]

The answers to your questions are completely up to you and how your hair handles being out.
For me...
1) do i plait my hair before sleeping at night.. then unplait it in the morning?
I don't plait my hair before I go to sleep, some naturals do. It is too much manipulation for my hair. But I always sleep with a scarf on and a bonnet if I am not baggying my hair up to keep the moisture in. However, plaiting your hair up may help with your tangling concerns.
2) am i meant to condition wash it everday if left out?
Again, that is up to you...some co-wash every day, I co-wash every other day when out.
3) if i do wash it most days will this not make my hair break off due to detangling?
When I co-wash during the week, I don't detangle my hair with a comb. I just fingercomb my hair only so the conditioner gets thru. The serious detangling is when I wash on the weekends.
4)lastly even if your hair is tangled at the end of the day .. do you just leave it until u condition?
I just leave it...when my hair is out, the tangles don't matter so much.

HTH...I'm sure someone will be of better help, but this is a start

 

[glamazon386]

Im new to this forum after a long time lurking
i have been natural for about 1 yr and a half. but have only been wearing my hair in braid extentions.
i want to start wearing my hair out in an afro .. or even in an afro puff

but im so clueless to the whole thing

1) do i plait my hair before sleeping at night.. then unplait it in the morning?
2) am i meant to condition wash it everday if left out?
3) if i do wash it most days will this not make my hair break off due to detangling?
4)lastly even if your hair is tangled at the end of the day .. do you just leave it until u condition?

the last time i wore my hair out it just became a tangled mess and i ended up dry combing it all the time as i was not used to the knots

sorry for going on and on

It really depends on your hair but whatever you do don't dry comb!

1. I don't.

2. I don't do that either.

3. No.... Depends on how you are detangling.

4. Yes....

 

[k3mii]

thank u!

bump?

 

[Cassandra1975]

Here's my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

1) do i plait my hair before sleeping at night.. then unplait it in the morning?
If you're going to do conditioner washes, you shouldn't have to do this. I just used my fingers to detangle when the conditioner was in.
2) am i meant to condition wash it everday if left out?
I did, when my hair was shorter. Yours is longer, so that will be up to you.
3) if i do wash it most days will this not make my hair break off due to detangling?
I never had breakage issues, because I only detangled when my hair was wet and coated with conditioner. I suspect if you try to detangle it dry (like after your hair dries in a puff), you may have some breakage issues.

4)lastly even if your hair is tangled at the end of the day .. do you just leave it until u condition?
Depends on what I am going to do with it the next day. If I knew I was going to conditioner wash in the morning, I'd just leave it. My hair is definitely not made to be detangled while dry. If I was going to wear twists/twist outs, I'd have to twist it up at night. When it was longer, if I wanted to wear a 'fro, then I would put 4 or 5 big braids in so that it was easy to comb out in the morning.

Good luck on your journey!

 

[LynnieB]

It's not as bad/hard as it seems.

Im new to this forum after a long time lurking
i have been natural for about 1 yr and a half. but have only been wearing my hair in braid extentions.
i want to start wearing my hair out in an afro .. or even in an afro puff

but im so clueless to the whole thing

1) do i plait my hair before sleeping at night.. then unplait it in the morning?
that's what i do. usually they're big sloppy twists or plaits that have been lightly misted with cond/water and covered with a satin scarf. in the morning i undo them and wear the out style.

2) am i meant to condition wash it everday if left out?Only if you want to and if your hair is happy with that.
3) if i do wash it most days will this not make my hair break off due to detangling? use your fingers or a very wide toothed comb and NEVER handle your hair when it's dry. Spritz it to dampen it or cowash it first.
4)lastly even if your hair is tangled at the end of the day .. do you just leave it until u condition?usually yes. i need to make 4-6 big plaits or twists at night so i just mist the hair and use my fingers to separate it into plaits. the moisture softens the hair and prevents breakage. i use my hands to smooth down the strands, pull out any obvious shed hair and check for tangles before replaiting.

the last time i wore my hair out it just became a tangled mess and i ended up dry combing it all the time as i was not used to the knots

sorry for going on and on
Now you know to never EVER handle your hair while it's dry, it's asking for trouble. Before handling your hair, use a spritz (conditioner/water + whatever) to soften the hair first.

If your ends coil like mine do, don't try to mess with them - leave them alone until you wash your hair again. when i make my bedtime plaits or twists, i don't try to separate from the roots down, i separate from the coil up. the parts won't be neat but i'm not beating up the ends trying to rip apart the coils. i hope that made sense

 

[FlowerHair]

1) do i plait my hair before sleeping at night.. then unplait it in the morning?
I plait my hair in 1 braid and pin up with a hair comb.

2) am i meant to condition wash it everday if left out?
I don't, but at least once or twice a week is a must.

3) if i do wash it most days will this not make my hair break off due to detangling?
I only detangle with my fingers, while the hair is saturated with conditioner, once or twice a week...

4)lastly even if your hair is tangled at the end of the day .. do you just leave it until u condition?
I just leave it. No one really notices a tangle or two in natural hair.


ETA: Never dry comb!

 

[Whimsy]

bumpedy bump bump

 

[LayneJ]

Im new to this forum after a long time lurking
i have been natural for about 1 yr and a half. but have only been wearing my hair in braid extentions.
i want to start wearing my hair out in an afro .. or even in an afro puff

but im so clueless to the whole thing

1) do i plait my hair before sleeping at night.. then unplait it in the morning?
2) am i meant to condition wash it everday if left out?
3) if i do wash it most days will this not make my hair break off due to detangling?
4)lastly even if your hair is tangled at the end of the day .. do you just leave it until u condition?

the last time i wore my hair out it just became a tangled mess and i ended up dry combing it all the time as i was not used to the knots

sorry for going on and on

1) Most of the time, I don't do this.
2) Depends on your hair. I like to co-wash often, and in the summer, I do so daily.
3) You shouldn't need to detangle that often. Weekly or every other week is enough for me.
4) Yep!

**Detangling isn't a problem at all for me. I put my hair in 4 big twists, drenched in conditioner, and comb through with a wide-tooth comb/and or my Denman. Also, if I wear a style that I KNOW will cause lots of tangles, like a wash n' go, I deep condition w/ steam 1st (this melts away my tangles), then go ahead and detangle.

And just to reiterate: Never comb dry!

 

[SEMO]

It really depends on your hair but whatever you do don't dry comb!

1. I don't.

2. I don't do that either.

3. No.... Depends on how you are detangling.

4. Yes....

Ditto. Especially the part about not dry combing. When I wear my hair out (which is most of the time) I just re-wet my hair with water from a spray bottle in the morning, re-apply leave-in conditioner, and re-fluff the puff.